NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Opening Day for the 2019 Christopher Newport University baseball team is set for this weekend as the 13th-ranked Captains host Ferrum College (0-0) for games on both Saturday and Sunday. First pitch from Captains Park is scheduled for 1:00 pm on both days as the Captains return to the diamond for the first time since last year's run to the NCAA South Regional Championship Game.
Live stats and a video stream will be available of all the action at CNUsports.com. Links to both can be found on the baseball schedule.
Led by one of the nation's most elite offenses last season, the Captains will return a considerable contingent of the starting lineup in 2019. Seven of the nine bats in the starting lineup are back, led by first team All-American third baseman
Seth Woodard. In his first year with the Captains, Woodard hit .386 with 30 extra-base hits while becoming just the second CNU player in program history to combine for 65 RBI and 57 runs scored.
At the top of the order, senior center fielder
Jordan Mason returns for his final campaign already ranking 10th all-time in career at-bats, career hits, and ninth in runs scored. He also has snagged 40 stolen bases in his career, ranking eighth in program history, while sophomore
Conner Clark is already nipping at his heels with a stellar freshman campaign on the basepaths. Clark ranks tied for 13th with 29 bags swiped after the left-handed batter started all 47 games in his rookie season.
In the middle of the order, senior first baseman
Nicholas Baham returns with his 17 career home runs, ranking 10th. He has slugged .476 over the course of his career while proving a most reliable defensive first baseman with a .986 career fielding percentage. Fellow senior middle infielders
Nick DiNapoli and
Austin Henry also return to the fold, while catcher
Ryan Grubbs helps round out the returning unit at the plate. DiNapoli hit .357 in his first year starting at shortstop while Henry slid over to second base and hit .271 for the Captains. Grubbs smacked three home runs and eight doubles while hitting .388 as the primary backstop a year ago.
On the pitching mound, sophomores
Josh Husby and
Gray Goodrich return to anchor the rotation in their second seasons. Husby was 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 49.0 innings of work during his freshman campaign; Goodrich also won five games and struck out nearly a batter per inning in his 11 appearances with nine starts. The bullpen will likely be anchored by junior
Brian Owens coming off a sensational sophomore season seeing him toss 50.0 innings with 72 strikeouts and a 2.88 ERA. Senior
Austin Slough is a lefty out of the pen who was 3-2 with a 3.21 ERA and will also help lock down the end of games for CNU.
Ferrum takes the field as a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for the first time, picked to finish sixth in the conference preseason poll. After spending 30 years in the USA South Athletic Conference, including many with Christopher Newport, the Panthers will face new competition in conference play this year. In one of the longest standing rivalries for CNU baseball, Ferrum leads the series 43-39. CNU has only played Methodist and N.C. Wesleyan more often than Ferrum College.
This year, the Panthers are led by sixth-year head coach Ryan Brittle after a 17-24 overall season last year. Senior Nathaniel Anthony is the top returning offensive player after hitting .367 with 35 runs scored last season. On the hill, senior left-handed pitcher Joey Pride is the leading arm after a 3-6 season last year with a 4.60 ERA.
After opening the season at home this weekend, the Captains will travel to Atlanta, Georgia for three games next weekend. CNU will face Oglethorpe, Millsaps, and Emory with games between February 15-17.
